CARICOM TEAM TOURS CHILE FOOD INDUSTRIES

A Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat representative is a among a 19-member party of officials from the private and public sectors in Member States and technical support agencies who are making a study tour of Chile's agribusiness sector, during this week.

The eight-day mission will focus attention on the productivity of both fresh and processed fruit and vegetables so that the agriculture sector could take advantage of processing and marketing technology changes. Farmers in CARICOM Member States grow a variety and abundance of fruit and vegetables and could gear themselves to deal effectively with the challenges of increasing competitiveness from imports as a result of this tour.

This is as a result of governments' efforts to rehabilitate the agricultural sector and at the same time adjust their economies to the growing demands of a more liberalised global economy.

The mission goes to Chile at this time, the summer 1999 cropping period, and will be looking at three main areas of agribusiness.

Representatives from the public sector involved in framing policy measures for the sub-sector will examine how the Chilean government supports agribusinesses, and the linkages between these businesses and indigenous production.

Another group of representatives from agencies which provide research and technological inputs to the management and operation of agribusiness enterprises will gain an insight into the approach of universities and other technological insititutions in contributing to the growth of agribusiness operations in Chile.

A third group comprising operators of small and medium-sized food processors will gain some knowledge of the experiences of small and medium size agribusiness operations and their interactions with the market, farmers, technical support agencies and the public sector .

The mission comes at a time when the 14-member Caribbean Community is implementing plans for the establishment of a CARICOM Single Market and Economy

The study tour has been organised by the CARICOM Secretariat in collaboration with the International Co-operation Agency of Chile (AGCI) in the promotion of increased competitiveness of agribusiness enterprises in CURRYCOMB. This thrust coincides with that of the Agri-Business Development Sub-Programme of the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture.